Anchoring device for water closets



Dec. 28, 1965 P. J. BREWINGTON ANCHORING DEVICE FOR WATER CLOSETS Filed April 5, 1963 FIG. I

lllllllllll FIG.3

3,225,642 ANCHORING DEVICE FOR WATER CLOSETS Philip J. Brewington, 6491 Emerald St., Austin, Tex. Filed Apr. 5, 1963, Ser. No. 270,857 1 Claim. (Cl. 85-9) This invention relates to closet screws and has for its principal object the provision of an anchoring device for water closets in which the total cost, material and labor, of securing a closet bowl to the supporting surface such as a floor is minimized, the device is suitable for a wide range of bowl rim heights, and the life of the steel holding screw is lengthened by shielding it from corrosion.

More specifically, the invention consists of the provision of a threaded steel screw and a one-piece cooperating member having an elongated tube of softer material than the screw and which may therefore be tapped by the screw as it is inserted over the previously positioned screw. This eliminates the cost of forming fine machine threads in a cap or nut and also avoids the use of the usual washer under the cap. A further advantage is that the present screw need have no head and the snugly fitting tube, integral with the cap, allows great variation of the screw setting.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view;

FIGURE 2 is a section on line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 shows the screw in exactly the same position as in FIGURE 2 but with the cap and sleeve lowered to allow the lip of the cap to touch the top of the rim of the closet bowl.

The anchoring device consists of a screw 18 and a cooperating member 12, the former having a single coarse thread 16 on the lower part of the screw and having a smooth cylindrical integral portion 17 at the top, such portion being slightly less in diameter than that of the threaded part 16 for reasons explained later.

The cooperating member 12 includes a cap having a lip 11 and a tube 13 snugly fitting as at 14 the upper portion 17 of the screw 18. This tube is of plastic material such that can readily be cut or tapped by the thread 16 of the screw as the hexagonal head of cap 10 is rotated.

The method of positioning the anchoring device is as follows: the screw 18 is first driven in the hole 19 preferably by use of a brace so that the threads 16 cut into the floor 23 which may be of any material as for example, concrete. Cylindrical portion 17 can readily be received in the jaw of the brace and the screw is rotated until its top is at a chosen distance from the floor 23. The screw 3,225,642 Patented Dec. 28, 1965 once placed in position is not later moved; all other movement being done by other part-s as for example the rim 24 of the closet bowl is placed in position over the screw 18 with its hole 25 precisely coaxial with the cylindrical portion 17. Next the tube 13 of the cooperating member is slid gently down until it strikes the top of the single thread 16. The hexagonal head of cap 10 is now rotated as by a wrench and threads are cut in the tube 13 until the bottom of the tube touches the surface of the floor 23. At such time further turning of the cap 10 causes the lower end 20 of the tube 13 to flair or turn upward as at 21 and this continues until the lip 11 of the cap is in firm contact with the top of the rim 24 of the closet bowl and the top of the screw is engaged by the end surface 15 of the tube 13.

What I claim is:

An anchoring device for water closets for securing the rim of a closet bowl to a bathroom floor, comprising a screw having a single coarse thread with cutting edges extending from one end, a cylindrical portion of slightly smaller diameter than the threaded portion and extending from the threaded portion to the opposite end of the screw and a one-piece cooperating member of a size to pass readily through the usual hole in the rim of the closet bowl, said member being of plastic and softer than the screw and including a cap having a multi-faced head with an outwardly extending lip to engage the top of the rim of the bowl and a coaxial tube to fit snugly the cylindrical portion of the screw and to be tapped by the thread of the screw when the screw is embedded in the floor and the cap is turned about the axis of the screw; said cap closing the end of the tube and extending laterally beyond said end, said tube being longer than said cylindrical portion and having a smooth walled bore, said head and tube being positioned to form an annular space between them facing the leading end of the tube, whereby when the tube is forced downward by turning the cap, the bottom of the tube will flare and the cap will be brought into firm contact with the top of the rim of the closet bowl.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 152,387 6/1874 Krickl --42 2,653,835 9/1953 Nelson 85-56 2,770,997 11/1956 Hansen 8532 3,030,997 4/1962 Collins 151-7 EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner.

C. B. ELDERKIN, Assistant Examiner. 

